Crazy World
by AAnnR
Summary: A new elf is born. Her name is Ava. But she's no where near normal. In fact, some weird things are about to happen that may involve her. Bernard x OC AAnnR
1. Chapter 1: New

Chapter 1: New

She was unbelievably warm. No just in a sense of pleasantness, but more of a happy feeling within her core. The warmth seemed to dwell dormant in her heart, like a sleeping volcano, and spread throughout her entire body.

By the way she laid it was obvious that warmth was not something she was used to. She and her siblings had been evicted from her old home years ago, due to her parents' neglect to pay the bills.

During the summer months it was easy to keep warm and fed. Most of the time she would sleep in the woods, were there was an abundance of plants to harvest and eat. And when it came time to sleep she climbed up a tree for comfort and safety. However, those months of bliss were always fleeting, and the warmth of summer tended to quickly dipped into autumn, then to winter.

Unfortunately, the current winter was the worst of the decade. Blizzard after blizzard swept across the girl's city. It was intensely cold and brutal. Snow had fallen in thick blankets, while bitter winds shot already staggering freezing temperatures down even farther.

So, while the new-found warmth slightly baffled the young girl, she wasn't concerned with it at the moment. Instead, she laid completely still, afraid that if she moved she would be thrown back into reality, were she back laying in an alley covered by cardboard.

For a while, she drifted in and out of sleep. She dreamed about her brothers before being evicted, about her parents being taken away forcefully. They were all vivid, like she was reliving each and every experience she could remember. It was calming and unnerving at the same time.

But as each memory came closer and closer to the present, they all began swell throughout her mind. Thousands of conversations, millions of paths, trillions of people (some she knew, some she didn't) all vibrating through her head until she finally shot up, clutching her head, and feeling like she was going to throw up. Desperately, she flung the covers from her bed, fell against the ground, scrambled to the nearest wall and retched. Unfortunately, having nothing in her stomach, nothing came out. So she stood there, leaned over, her forearm braced against the wall, eyes clenched, and saliva dripping from her mouth as she went through the motions of dry heaving.

As she finished, she collapsed with her back against the wall. She breathed harshly, her tongue lolled out. The calmness in her stomach, coming back twice as worse. Her arms crossed over the front of her belly and she immediately doubled over, pressing her forehead hard against the cool, hard ground, and began dry heaving again.

If the warmth before was pleasant, then the heat now was a burning inferno. Her mind was foggy. The clearness from before was lost as her mind burned with the new heat. It set fire to her memories, leaving nothing but ash.

Somewhere amidst her sickness she vaguely heard a door opening. Panicked yelling filled her ears, before it was joined by more voices. Multitudes of footsteps headed towards her, causing her to panic.

"Hurry! Get her back into the bed!" Small hands sounded many parts of her limbs before she felt herself raising from the ground. Soon, she felt the softness of the bed. However, it didn't procure the same amount of comfort as it did moments before. It only served to bring more heat to her body. When she was covered with sheets again she desperately kicked them off.

This movement upset her stomach again, she rolled over to her belly and inched for the side of the bed to throw-up. As she retched, the many hands gently pulled her hair out of her way, cooling her face slightly.

When the girl finished, she was comfortingly lifted by the hands and placed back into the bed correctly. After a few moments, the blankets were pulled completely away and a couple of cool, wet objects came in contact with her skin. The gently scrapped every part of her body, allowing the burning temperature within her to dull and fade. When her entire body was cool and dry the blankets were returned.

Then a set of small hands lifted her head up and something was placed against her lips. She cracked her eyes open slightly, to see a small, green bowl filled with a clear liquid. "Here lass," a voice said softly. "Drink this, it will make you feel better."

The girl slowly drank from the bowl. The liquid flowed down her throat, cooling everything it touched on the way down. It filled her veins, killing any and all heat left over.

Sighing contently, the girl felt her head being lowered back down to the pillows. The blankets were returned over her body and they returned to their former comfort. She was asleep before she heard the door opened to allow her guests to leave.

CW:CW:CW:CW:CW

When she awoke this time, it was due to normal circumstances. Asher eyes fluttered open, she took in blurry, beautiful colors. Deep reds, passionate blues, vivid greens, and bright yellows blurred together. Distractedly, the girl rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Reopening them, everything came into focus. She became aware of the small room she was in. The walls were a brown, mahogany and decorated with one picture. It was of a small moonlit alley. The scene seemed familiar, but only distantly so.

"You're awake!" A bright voice said, startling her from her musings. Turning her slightly to the left, she saw a small girl sitting in a chair beside the bed. "Sorry, sweets. Didn't mean to startle you." The small girl smiled, her cheeks and nose sparkling slightly. "My name is Judy." Judy hopped off her chair, please wait here for a second! I'll be right back."

The girl in the bed nodded her head in response. Judy smiled before sprinting out the door. Moments later she returned with a three people in tow. A small red hair boy, a medium boy with dark brown hair, and a large, fat man with white hair and red clothes.

When they all stood in the room, Judy closed the door before bounding over to bed. "Okay, little candy cane." She held out her hand. The girl hesitated for a moment before touching her hand. Judy closed her fingers around the girl's hand and gently pulled. "Common, lets see you."

The girl clumsily scrambled out of bed. She pulled back the covers, cool air meeting the bare skin of her legs. She kicked one leg to the side of the bed, then another.

"Okay, sweetie, try to stand." Using Judy as support the girl rose to her full height, started by the distance between her and the ground she swayed dangerously. The red hair boy rushed forward to help Judy steady her again. After the girl was standing, Judy and the red haired boy let her go.

The red haired boy looked up to the taller boy. After a moment the tall boy nodded his head and the red haired boy sprung into action. Her quickly walked up to the girl and circled her. It made the girl a bit nervous. "She seems a little skinny, but it's easily fixable." He but his hand to chin and scrunched his eyebrows together.

He finished his rotation and stopped in front of her. "Could ye bend down a bit lass?" He asked. She looked to Judy, who nodded to her encouragingly. The girl did as she was asked. The red haired boy quickly captured her chin in his hand. "Her speckles haven't come in yet, but they are close to revealing themselves." He turned her head slightly and brushed her hair behind her ear then to the other side, and pushed the hair back. "Her ears have fully formed." He raised his hand and snapped sharply, causing her ear to twitch slightly away. "And they respond beautifully."

The red haired boy nudged her face back forward and stared into her eyes. "Her eyes seem normal to, though I'm worried about the lass's eyes."

"What do you mean?" A slightly deep voice said.

The girl's eyes left his for a moment, to search for the voice, but a nudge from the boy's hand brought her focus. "Keep ye's eyes on me lass." She stared into his eyes again, his brown eyes analyzed hers. "Well, ye see, one eye is brown and the other is green. Now different eye color is greatly uncommon, it's completely normal. It just means the lass inherited genes from both sides accidentally."

"Oh." The deep voice responded.

The red haired boy moved a thumb to her lip pulling it down. "Could ye open ye mouth?" When she did so he responded with a, "There's a good girl." He looked in there for a moment, to, before commenting. "Her teeth are all placed properly, and the gums seem to be grown well, no sense of plaque or decay." His hand left her face. "The lass is as healthy as a horse!" He said happily, smiling a bit causing his cheeks and nose to intensely sparkle. He had twice as many sparkles as Judy did.

"Well then," He stepped back from the girl and turned to the tall boy. "Speaking of horses, one of our horses have come down with a slight stomach ache, excuse me." He bowed a bit to the man in red, then left.

The girl looked up the tall boy, who stared down on her. He was a little intimidating, standing there with his arms crossed, legs slightly apart. His cloths seemed a little strange to her. His legs were covered with brown pants, his torso endowed in a baggy, striped shirt, and his curly dark brown hair was covered by a black beanie.

"So," The red man next to the tall boy spoke up. "What's your name?"

She went to speak, but she cut herself off. What was her name? It was on the tip of her tongue, and yet there was nothing. It was confusing and alarming.

"She doesn't have a name yet." The tall boy said. His voice was sharp and commanding. "It's your job, as Santa, to give her one." He said quickly.

"What? Aren't you the head elf? Isn't that your job?"

"Nope. I can't. Not my job. It's yours." He said rolling his eyes.

"A Santa gave us all names. It's how its always been." Judy spoke up

"Ah." The red man walked forward to her and squatted in front of her. He stared deeply at her. "Well, how about-"

"It can't be a name that some other elf has either." The tall boy said again.

"Mary?"

"Taken."

"Sara?"

"Taken."

"Lily?"

"Taken.

"Erica?"

"Already taken."

The red man sighed and turned his head to the boy. "Well is Ava taken?"

"No."

"Good." The red man grumbled. He turned back to the girl. "Your name will be Ava."

As soon as the words left his lips the wind around the room spiraled. It centered to the girl, it pulled at her hair and at her white dress. It tickled her, making her laugh. She threw her arms out and spun around in it. The wind felt like home, like warmth, like she belonged. Then, suddenly, the wind threw itself out, carrying her laughter throughout the vast building. As soon as the wind left the girl stopped spinning, allowed her arms to drop to her sides.

Then, she spoke her first words: "My name is Ava."


	2. Chapter 2: Purpose

**Chapter 2: Purpose**

"What was that?" The man in red asked.

"That was Mother Earth." The tall boy condescendingly said.

"Er?"

The tall boy sighed. "Common, you should know this. Your only recognized as alive when you have a name. Staying with me so far?"

"Yes Bernard. I'm not stupid."

"Humans have a way of finalizing names, writing it down on paper and documenting it. However, elves do not need a system like that, since we don't die of age. Instead we've inhabited a way to 'finalize' our names." The tall boy air quoted the word finalize. "The first Santa made a deal with Mother Earth, asking for her to recognizing the elves with magic. The Santa Claus would speak the new elf's name and Mother Earth would bind it with magic. Easy."

"Mother Earth can do that?"

"You can go through chimneys to leave toys throughout the entire world in one night."

"Touché."

"Boys." Judy reprimanded.

"Sorry!" The red man immediately apologized.

"Right." The tall boy said. "Now first things first." He stepped forward to Ava so he was standing right in front of her. "My name is Bernard. I am the head elf of this place. You, Ava, are an elf. I am an elf. Judy other there," He pointed to Judy. "Is an elf. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"Good. Now, listen close, cause I'm only going to say this once. This man here behind me, is Santa Claus. His real name is Scott Calvin. He is not an elf. He entered into the 'Santa Claus' contract. Santa Claus is a man who goes to every house to deliver presents to every house on the night of December 24th. That day is called Christmas Eve. It's our job, the elves, to make the toys for Santa Claus to deliver." He stepped towards Ava, and gently put his fingers underneath her chin to pull her chin up. "Now," He said, his breath blew in her face as his face got closer. He smelled sweet. "Don't panic."

Bernard's lips connected with Ava's. This created a sharp pop and a sharp electrical shock throughout her body. He quickly pulled away. "Now you are connected to me. That feeling that you had, the shock? It was my magic. My magic flows without a need to replenish. Your magic does not. It will come from me, automatically. It will be divided from my power to yours. Your magic is key for your survival. If you use to much in a day it will make you tired. Understand?"

"Yes."

"This is a two way street. I give you magic, you obey my orders. It's the same with all the elves. I have been head elf for a thousand years. I only order what I think is absolutely necessary. My orders are absolute."

Ava nodded. She was embarrassed, though she didn't know why. Was their a reason to embarrassed about lips touching? Though he had done like it was a normal thing, she could not shake the feeling that it had another purpose.

"Now, you need a job." He walked away from Ava and paced around the room.

"How about a designer?" Judy asked.

He paused to turn to Judy. "No, there's already twenty elves with that job." Then he turned to the Santa. "Your done here. Your duty is done."

"Oh!" Santa looked startled. "I need to go check the list. There's probably already a hundred names on there." With that the man opened the door, gave Ava a wink, passed through the door, and closed it again.

Bernard turned to Ava. "What are you good at? Ava?"

He startled her from her mussing. "Um, I-I don't know."

"Hm." He said.

"Couldn't we give her the test?" Judy asked.

"Ya, I guess." Bernard quickly stalked out of the room.

Judy chuckled, her sparkles lighting up. "Don't worry about him. I'm sorry is he startled you. He's a bit much sometimes."

Bernard came bursting through the door. Under his arm was a black, velvet box. He sat down and motioned for Ava to do the same. He quickly handed the box to Ava once she was seated. "Open it and tell us what's inside." He said, crossing his arms.

The box was soft under the touch of Ava's hands. After some difficulty, She finally opened the box with her fingernails. However, when the lid was lifted there was nothing in side. Perplexed, Ava turned the box every which way in an attempt to see something.

"Well?" Bernard asked impatiently.

"There nothing in here." She said.

Bernard grabbed the box from her and looked himself. Indeed, there was nothing in the box. His face looked shocked, like it didn't make sense. He put the lid back on the box and opened it. He pulled out a king's crown. He put the crown back in the box, put the lid back on the box and gave it to Ava.

She opened it again, but with the same result. There was nothing in the box.

"Judy, has this ever happened before?" Bernard asked. His strict voice sounded strained.

"N-no." Judy struggled out.

Bernard jumped up, grabbed the box from Ava's hands. Then he reached down to grab her hand. He quickly pulled her up and headed out the door. "This makes no sense." He mumbled under his breath. "It's never happened before. Ever." They both raced down the hall, Judy trailing behind them. Bernard's and Ava's legs were longer though, so she was falling behind.

Noticing this, Ava pulled her hand from Bernard's, completely startling him, to run to Judy. Quickly, Ava squatted down in front of Judy, her back to the small elf. "Piggy-back." Ava explained. Judy quickly complied and jumped onto the larger elf's back.

Ava stood and caught up to Bernard, who had stopped to wait for them. Quickly they made their way down the hallway, Bernard in the lead with Ava following closely behind. Their pace quickened as the group traveled farther and farther through the hallways. Ava turned her head every which way, trying to gather as much detail and information as physically possible. However, despite the tall elf's efforts, she was unable to discern only a small amount of the doors, people, and hallways they went down.

Finally Bernard stopped in front of a set of old, wooden doors. He pulled out a set of keys from his bag and tried each one in the lock. He set one key after another an attempt to turn it, to no avail. Frustrated, Bernard put the set of keys back were he found them in his bag.

The head elf, after putting the keys away, did something that confused the new elf girl. He raised his hand to the grain of the wood and slowly traced down the grooves with the pad of his fingers. All the while he softly sighed, "Hoc modo, ut arcet introitum meum, aperiat."

The words left shivers down Ava's spine, raising the hair on her arms, neck, and legs, and set goose bumps down the entire area of her expose skin. The power that exuded from the Head Elf, set he on edge. It was not unlike the magic she had come in contact with an hour before, in fact it sent a sharp spark through her the same way. The magic flowing from him pulled her, moved her, pushed her in a strange way. Before she knew it her hand was merely centimeters from his body. The closer she got, the more it effected her. She forgot about Judy, who was still on her back, the corridor they were in, just everything. It all drained away.

When her hand touched his arm Bernard turned suddenly and jerked his arm away, like he was horribly burned. His eyes narrowed dangerously, his mouth in a slight scowl. "What are you doing?" He asked sharply.

"N-nothing." Ava said. She had retracted her arm and moved backwards a few paces. She felt her face heat up, and she lowered her gaze

Judy's grip around her throat tightened a bit in warning before coughing to gather the attention towards her. "Can I please get off?" She whispered to Ava, causing Ava's ear to twitch slightly in her direct. Ava quickly nodded and squatted to the ground to allow Judy off.

Bernard just sighed, "Just don't touch me please." He said before turning back to the door. He began his incantation again. This time Ava moved as far way from him as possible, so she couldn't be lured in by the magical words again.

Judy caught the retreat of the new elf and found it strange. In fact, she found the whole girl's demeanor strange. The elf looked a lot older than any of the other elves that she had seen born, and she had seem many elf births. However, the she had ever seen had been about 5 years old, the oldest being Bernard, who was 17 when he was brought to the North Pole. All the other elves tended to look 10 to 13 years old.

In fact, their small hands made easier to work on the toys. Their child like insight were very helpful with the development of new idea, and their ages and inability to die allowed them to gather knowledge to act upon their ideas for the good of 'Santa Claus'. So it was not strange to see children running around with dangerous tools, animals, and machinery.

Judy stood and analyzed the tall girl as her boss worded his magic to open the door. Ava was a good foot and a half tall than Judy was, with long brown hair that fell messily down to her waist. Like the elf doctor had said the different colored eyes were kind of strange, but it just added to the new girl's strangeness. Thick, dark eyelashes rimmed her large, doe-like eyes. Her face was tear shaped, with only a hint of baby fat still procuring from the cheeks.

And, just like all of the new born elves, Ava wore a thick, coarse white material that was made to be a dress until a job and clothes were found. Her body was skinny, but she could easily pick up people as big as Judy on her back.

Judy turned her attention back to Bernard as he finally managed to open the door to the room. Quickly he opened the left door, beckoning Judy and Ava to file into the room. When the girls were in Bernard closed the door behind them, enveloping them all in darkness. After a couple of minutes of fumbling around, Bernard found the light located somewhere to the right.

Dim light filled the room with a warm glow. The walls were lined with large bookcases, all of which were stacked to the brim with thick, old books and crinkled papers. In the middle of the room, a large, circular table sat, accompanied by three wooden chairs. Everything was covered with a thick layer of dust, making all of the objects a shade lighter than the furniture would normally be.

Bernard muttered a couple of words under his breath. As soon as he finished wind began to whip around the room, causing Ava to close her eyes by reflex. The wind felt different to her. It was nothing like the wind that had previously left her feeling safe and secure. Instead, this wind was much more violent and forceful. The force pulled harshly on her cloths and hair, causing them to thrash around wildly. When she opened them again the room was clean, all the dust had vanished. Surprised, Ava stared at Bernard, who was beginning to scan the multitudes of novels around the room, in awe.

Ava could feel that the room was still filled with his magic. His powerful essence was pushed into every nook and cranny, awaiting his bidding. She could taste the power, the strength in the energy that pulsated around her. Though initial reaction towards the sudden use of magic to make the wind do his bidding, the reminance of the magic left her feeling as happy as she had been with the 'Mother's' power.

"Here it is," Bernard grunted as he pulled a large, grey volume off one of the top shelves. He cradled it in his arms before gently setting it down on the table. He stretched his hand to hover above the cover of the book and spoke clearly his command. "Job translatio et eligens."

The book flew open, the pages fluttered quickly, turning to the middle of the book before they stopped abruptly. Bernard quickly scanned his eyes over the two pages. Ava stood silently by the door while Judy read the book next to Bernard. Suddenly, Judy's small hand flew to a part of the book, redirecting Bernard's attention to it. After reading through the part Judy pointed at. His eyebrows knitted together while his lips moved as he silently read to himself.

Bernard and Judy looked at each other, trying to reach a consensus on what they just read, the knowledge seeming to hit them like a hundred pounds of lead. They both, at the same time, turned their heads to stare at the young, tall girl in front of them. Ava squirmed under their gazes, her hands fiddling with the hem of her dress. She was confused by the intensity of which they decided to look at her. Judy was the first to break her gaze from the girl, to look back down to the book.

"...in the event that no job is specified from the book, the elf, therein, will have only one job entitled to him/her: magic sensor/enhancer. From the moment of his/her birth, the elf, if promptly entered into a contract with the Head Elf, will be able to willingly and knowingly adjust, maneuver, or control any magic transferred to her/him from the Head Elf. In some sense, the Magic Sensor Elf could just as powerful as the Head Elf, but only in terms of magic. The Head Elf, if a contract is reached, is able to manipulate the Magic Sensor Elf in the same way as any of the other elves that are under the Head Elf's control." Judy recited breathlessly. "There have been only been two cases of these kinds of elves being born into the North Pole, each one met a vicious end during the elf and dwarf war during the initial move to the North Pole."

When Judy was finished reading, Bernard took in a deep breath and closed his eyes, unable to keep them open any longer. "That's..."

"Unexpected." Judy finished for him. Bernard sent her a sharp, annoyed look. he obviously didn't like his sentences finished for him.

Ava didn't understand the words that had just transpired. What did this have to do with learning what her job was? Did this mean she was a magic sensor? What ever that was? She stood, staring passed the pair of elves towards the wall. Man, was she confused.


End file.
